Salisbury School District to seek grant to offer preschool

Free program would be offered to at-risk children at Truman Elementary.

Salisbury Township School District is hoping to be able to offer a free pre-kindergarten… (DONNA FISHER, THE MORNING…)

March 15, 2013|By Margie Peterson, Special to The Morning Call

Salisbury Township School District is hoping to be able to offer a free pre-kindergarten program for at-risk children at Harry S. Truman Elementary at no cost to the district in the fall.

This year about 29 percent of Salisbury students are eligible for the free or reduced cost school lunch program – the standard measure of the rate of low income children in a district. But at Truman, that number is about 40 percent, according to the district.

On Wednesday, the school board agreed to partner with Community Services for Children in Allentown to seek state funding that would pay for 20 children, ages 3 or 4, to attend a five-hour-a-day pre-school program called Pre-K Counts. Community Services would hire the two staff members to run it.

The group runs Pre-K Counts programs in Allentown and Easton. Paula Margraf, Community Services executive vice president, said they've had success in making sure English language learners and children from low-income families are ready for kindergarten as well as in getting their parents involved in school.

"It becomes a win-win all the way around," Margraf said.

Currently, the township has no Pre-K Counts or Head Start program to help at-risk children get prepared to start school.

The state-sponsored Pre-K Counts program accepts children whose families earn up to 300 percent of the federal poverty level. The poverty level for a family of four is $23,550 so 300 percent of that is $70,650.

About 36 percent of children under age 5 in the township meet that criteria, according to a report by the State Office of Child Development and Early Learning.

"There's been a perception that Salisbury is a very wealthy school district in a wealthy community," said Superintendent Michael Roth. "But it does show how the economy has affected families."

The state grants are competitive and there's no guarantee Community Services will get one to operate Pre-K Counts at Salisbury. But Margraf said, "I think it's a very good candidate for state money."

In other business, Peter Oyler, an education development executive with Apple, Inc., presented the district with the Apple Distinguished Program award for successfully incorporating online learning into the district curriculum with the aid of a laptop for each child in high school and middle school.

Oyler told the board that Apple gives this award to fewer than 200 schools across the country.

Roth thanked board members for supporting the program, which began before he became superintendent. "It's about visionary leadership and what we want to happen for our students," he said.